The benevolent banner., 1887-07-30
HAND-PICKING.

We believe in hand-picking for
souls. 1t is, i'll the end, more saving,
and consequently more profitable.
The only hindrance to successful and
Wide-reaching hand-picking is lack
of hands. Given the necessary num-
ber of willing hands and the largest
crop may be garnered. To save an
orchard Of ripe fruit prudent farmer
will put on extra hands. To save a
ripened harvest of souls the Master
of the harvest calls for more laborers.
The law and its workings are identi-
cal in nature and i'll grace. Had it
been otherwise Christ would surely
have told the church. In Gods wis
dom the gospel Of salvation is to be
carried forward in the world through
individual effort. 1t is to be pro-
CLAIMED 10 every creature, not to
large masses.
The Masters example is the most
powerful argument for the truth Of
this method. Take the story of his
life, and, with but few notable ex-
ceptions, it is the story of personal
influence and individual work. BY
Galilee with the fishermen; by Jacobs
we'll with the Samaritan woman; by
the Wayside with Bartimeus; outside
of Jericho with Zaccheus; at Sim0n's
feast with the nameless penitent; in
seclusion with Nicodemus; in his
dwelling place with Andrew and
John; on his cross with a penitent
thief; after his resurrection alone
with Peter;-these and many more
fill the record of that life which is at
once our hope and our example. The
Master sets the copy; his pupils should
follow it. How quickly Andrew
learned his lesson when, after that
twilight conference with Christ, he
started after his brother Simon and
brought him to Jesus, This personal
| effort Of Andrew enfOlds the appar-
ent exception Of this method of gath
ering souls,-Pentecost 1t was Peters
preaching, preceded and followed by
the Holy Ghost, that gained the sig
nal triumph of the Christian faith;
but it was Andrews personal work
that gained Peter for Christ, under
the same Spirit. In the matter of
the Pentecostal ingatherlng, the pres
ence of the one hundred and twenty
disciples filled with the Holy Ghost
in the crowd leading inquiring souls
to Christ, is sometimes overlooked.
A forcible illustration of our subject
is the incident in Philips ministry,
where he is called away from his sue
cessful preaching tour tia ough the
Samaritan villages TO meet an Ethio-
plan traveller on his return from Je-
rusalem where he had come to wOr-
ship. The story i familiar; its truth
is the Importance Of hand-picking in
the service of Christ. Illustration:
might be multiplied from the Word
bearing upon the truth that persona
effort is the secret of spiritual ingath
ering Of souls.
But i this method of work adequate
to meet the need of the world for sal
vauon? If the evangelization of tht
world depends upon individual work
will il ever be accomplished? Is no
the method too slow? The Lord dix
not seem to be troubled with thi;
question, when at the beginning BIZ
sent forth the handful of disciples tC
conquer the world for him. EleyeI
men against the world,-the worlC
sneers st such supreme folly,-bu
, the Master says. Go preach my Cos
pei to every creature" They went
and history holds the result of theiI
individual efforts.
The church has lost sight of thi